the history of the oxford english dictonary a brief description, with appearances by some of the key...

The history of the Oxford English Dictonary

A brief description, with appearances by some of

the key players

© Wim van der Wurff, Newcastle University, 2009

The Oxford English Dictionary (1st edn; 1928)

Some earlier English dictionaries

• Robert Cawdrey (1604) Table Alphabetical (first English-English dictionary; 2500 words, copied from a Latin-English dictionary)

Soon after this, several other dictionaries were published. Further landmarks are:

• Elisha Coles (1676) An English Dictionary (25,000 words; plagiarises much from previous dictionaries; adds jargon terms, obsolete words and dialect words (marks these and specifies the relevant county)

• Samuel Johnson (1755) Dictionary of the English Language. (quite full and scholarly; includes quotations to illustrate word usage)

Samuel Johnson

Planning the OED

• First discussed at meeting of Philological Society, 1857

• Existing dictionaries were criticised for being incomplete and unsystematic

• Plan: a record of all words ever used in the language, with etymology, list of spellings, division into subsenses, and supporting quotations for each sense

Richard Trench, Dean of Westminster, one of the three initial movers of the OED

Herbert Coleridge, the first editor of the OED

James Furnivall, editor of the OED 1861-1870

James Furnivall at work

James Furnivall at play: the Hammersmith sculling club for ladies